The Premier League and Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) have announced a new year-long pilot project that aims to build stronger connections between players, football clubs and their local communities.
The Players' Project Pilot, funded by the Premier League and PFA, involves 14 professional football club charities and three player foundations being supported to develop new initiatives that help tackle inequalities, raise aspirations and inspire positive change in communities across England and Wales.
These projects will be created in conjunction with current and former first team and Academy players.
Open to the charitable arms of professional football clubs in the Premier League and English Football League as well as player foundations, the Players' Project Pilot will harness players personal interests to help address important societal issues.
The 17 charities participating in the Players' Project Pilot have each received grants of up to £25,000 from the Premier League and PFA, which will be distributed by the Premier League Charitable Fund.
"The Players' Project Pilot is a powerful initiative that places players at the heart of community work, allowing them to use their influence to make a real difference," said Nick Perchard, Premier League Director of Community.
"By combining players' passions with the proven delivery of professional football club charities, this funding will respond to local need and create meaningful impact that extends far beyond the pitch."
Funded projects within the pilot have been designed to positively impact people of all ages and include intergenerational activities designed to support female carers, inclusive initiatives for people living with dementia and intervention programmes devised to tackle child criminal exploitation.
One such project will see Wigan Athletic Community Trust work with girls and young women at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation, in an education initiative co-designed by Women's captain Abbie Moore and team manager Emmerson Boyce.
Growing a connection
"Supporting the work that our members do in their communities has always been a priority for the PFA and I’ve personally enjoyed seeing the impact that they have and the way they use their platform," said Professional Footballers' Association Chief Executive Maheta Molango.
"I know from conversations with players that they want to use their position to highlight work in their communities that really matters to them and where they feel that personal connection.
"We've been keen to give them opportunities to do that, and the Players' Project Pilot is an excellent way of growing that connection between our members and the work they do off the pitch."
The charities of Premier League clubs Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Leicester City, West Ham and Wolverhampton Wanderers will take part in the pilot.
Chelsea Football Club Foundation, in collaboration with defender Millie Bright (pictured above), will support SEN children through an education initiative, while Brentford will partner with defender Ben Mee in an early years' mental health intervention entitled, 'Being Mee'.
Alongside club charities, three player foundations have also received funding to develop activities.
The Cyrille Regis Legacy Trust will create mentoring programmes for girls and young women, while both the Russell Martin Foundation and Jason Roberts Foundation will deliver a range of intergenerational activities in Brighton and Hove, and the London Borough of Brent, respectively.
